Artists - Part 26

 Eugene Jansson

Eugene Jansson (1862-1915) was a Swedish painter.  His early work consisted of portraits as well as nighttime landscapes and cityscapes dominated by shades of blue (his "blue period").  Then, around 1907, the subject of his paintings changed almost entirely to male nudes.  This is a 1910 self-portrait at the Navy bathhouse in Stockholm.

What changed in 1907?  Jansson started swimming at the bathhouse to combat his health issues. Above, Flottans Badhus (Navy Bathhouse), 1907.

This is a reference photo that Jansson used for Flottans Badhus.  The diver and sailors there really were naked.  Like the rest of the world in that era, the Swedish Navy saw no need for modesty when it was men-only.

This photo shows Eugene Jansson himself diving at the bathhouse.  I stole this photo from my friend Jerry's blog Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!

Here at the bathhouse are Jansson (right) and Knut Nyman, who became Jansson's lover and lived at Jansson's studio from 1907 to 1913.  This photo is also from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!  To see his posts on Eugene Jansson with many more photos and paintings, click here.

The sailors at the bathhouse were a source of models for Jansson.  Many of Jansson's paintings depict them engaging in athletics, especially gymnastics, like Ring Gymnast, 1911 ...

And Acrobats, 1912 ...

And Athletes, 1912.

We end with this photo Three athletes in the studio at Glasbrukgatan, with some of Jansson's paintings behind them.  These three may be the models for the painting on the right.  Were they also there for more than modeling, like Knut Nyman?  We'll never know.  Jansson's private records were destroyed by his brother after Jansson died in 1915, because homosexuality was illegal in Sweden until 1944.